The invention relates to a Stirling engine having a housing chamber which is divided by a reciprocating gas-permeable regenerator plate into two part chambers, of which one can be heated and the second is provided with cooling, the second part chamber communicating with a working cylinder which acts on a working shaft via a first drive device and on the regenerator plate via a second drive device. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for operating Stirling engines.
In a known Stirling engine of this type (publication "19th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference", August 1984, pages 1807-1812), the heat-releasing sheet metal wall and the heat-absorbing sheet metal wall are each designed in the shape of flat plates. The rim edges are Joined via an allround side wall, so that a rectangular housing is present. The regenerator plate is a rigid solid body, whose rim edges likewise reciprocate between the sheet metal walls. The connection of the working cylinder to the housing chamber is provided in the region of the side wall. The known Stirling engine is a small laboratory model. With a larger type of construction, for use in practice, considerable difficulties arise. Since, even at a sheet metal size of 1 m.sup.2 and a compression of 1:1.05, a force of 500 kp presses the sheet metal walls apart, an expensive heavy support structure for the flat, rigid sheet metal walls is necessary- The guidance of the regenerator plate serving as a displacement piston also proves to be relatively expensive and leads to a significant increase in the cost of such a Stirling engine which, in fact, is intended to be distinguished by simplicity and hence by inexpensive manufacture even in relatively large numbers.